Pick Your Food up Off the Floor and Eat it!

Pick Your Food up Off the Floor and Eat it!

Alexandra Centre Society

August 3 2010

First a note: this is not a comedy regardless of how you interpret the title. In fact this may be the only show at the Fringe that doesn’t offer a single laugh not even an awkward chuckle. It’s dead serious as it rightfully should be dealing with a real-life murder of a wealthy tycoon’s son in 2003.

Exhaustively researched Jason Seelmann’s short play tells the story from the perspective of the murderer still in prison clothes sitting before a panel that is the audience. There’s no props no special effects no hopping between multiple roles. It’s a true one-man show one that boils down to just body language and a cold hard stare.

Walking in you’re given some newspaper clippings of the crime clinical and concise. Yet once you sit down you hear a complete life of the early struggles of growing up the hard way. Tough neighbourhood (“Too messed up for teachers to get involved”) tougher parents and then seeing the rich kids having it easy.

This is the meat of the play where you learn his viewpoint on society and its shortcomings. Whether you agree or disagree with him is your own call but it’s unsettling to even be placed in that position. Make it the last show of your night as you’ll need some time with it after.